Things that matter!

A point in time...when I am undergoing the most craziest if not the most saddest is not the most horrifying if not the most wonderful  if not the most confusing if not the most toughest time in my entirety...I would like to take some time off not thinking about myself but just to reflect on things around me....

Had I not thought about the essays I had writing during my MBA admit last evening..I would not have been able to write what I am about to write now :-)

1. A 10+ year long friend..really really good friend...A person who I think is one of the best I have know to date. Someone who I admire, adore, envy and am myself with told me "There is nothing wrong in demanding  what you deserve..or for that matter pursuing something better....this is the first time I see you doing this..." -> The guilt that was bothering me for a long time now has at the least subsided hearing her say this to me!

2. A guy who used to talk the least in my Footloose Gang...has been trying to find ways to convince me to do something BIG in life... arguing with me why I should not study further...why I should move out of Baton Rouge..or for that matter how dumb I have become ;-) ....and end of the day he tells me "I never talk or be like this with anyone".... :-)

3. On board in a public bus, have $10 note..need $2 change else I loose the whole $10..and there is this one guy at the end of the bus...I approach him and say "Excuse me do you have change for $10"..and he just opens his bag and gives me a stack of 25 cents worth $10. And he gets down in the next bus stop..........wow that made me wear a smiley face for 10 mins at the least.....


4. Conversing with my aunt for close to 2 hours....sorry I meant Gossiping :-)...forgetting the fact that it is an IST call [ Bro pays the bills though :-P ] and forgetting my present state of mind for those 2 hours....since I felt I was there not here.....well the "Disconnection Sound" of the phone got me back to reality..........nevertheless it was wonderful....


..........and back to reality is I am one screwed up person right now!!!


People who are wondering whats going one will get to know very soon...if only I have the courage........

Social Exchange Theory (SeXT)..........

I thought I had the most boring class in my MBA this semester...Organizational Behavior! Until I got a C in my mid-terms and from then on I made sure I was INTERESTED in it :-)......

Of all the things I learnt in the class the one that caught my attention was SeXT. The gist of it is :
1. We never do any favors or help someone out of our way without our own "selfish" reasons behind it!
2. A relationship dies over a period of time when only one person in giving and there is no passive if not active response from the other end!

I am surprised that I AGREE to both the above statements!

I have had friends who have helped me so much and I have had friends who tell me I am a GOOD person. But at the end of the day, the reason you are good or bad towards someone might be for some reasoning of your own. I feel I care and help and do things out of my way for people I love, like and care for. Or at times do it since I feel happy about it. So its all about ME!!

And coming to the latter point, there is always some expectation from a relationship. If that is not met or failed continuously it would eventually die. Again it is about ME and MY expectations! I want to be happy and once you see that might not hold good in the long run I would try to opt out of it. I used to feel that it is an incorrect choice to be made, but having experienced it....I feel its better to opt out and be neutral than continue and be unhappy!

However this is NO  RULE!! There are always exceptions such as :

1. Transformational leaders might not have had a selfish incentive in the beginning or the incentive might have died in the long run!
2. Love & Care of your parents towards you is in no way effected by how much you love them.

Well from the looks of it SeXT  exists and is real for ME!


Thinking Hard,
Arpitha

Done with 3rd Sem....One More to Go!!!!

Yo Yo!!! I have successfully completed my 3rd semester roller coaster ride!!!! And I  am :-) & :-( about it at the same time!!!!
I remember, a few days after the initial excitement of coming here I just wanted to be done with things and move on...In fact I distinctly remember  having the conversation with a few friends here when I had said " I have come here to get my masters and not for making friends".....[This might be my natural thought knowing the fact that I am over EMOTIONAL DRAMA person => stay away stay safe]
Now after 3 semesters...my CEBA class room, my classmates, preparing for the whole day stay on campus, frequent visit to my work place each day, meeting buddies, late night sleep is MY LIFE!!!!
I can proudly accept I may not be the exact same person I was when I left India. It makes me wonder was I always like this or have I transitioned over a period of time....or is it just human "adaptation" taking over me!!!! Each time I iterate through these thoughts I get LOST even more.......
Thinking beyond all this is the reality.... my stay in Baton Rouge is short LIVED...will I enjoy my last semester stay here or will I be more worried about leaving this place soon...I don't know....Or may be I don't  want to move or don't want to think about it.......
For the time being I am just excited about the vacation time in December with my Brother and my MT friends. Hope spending time with them will help me clear up my thoughts......



:-) / :-(
Arpitha

Rope Course!

A COLDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Friday morning.....EARLY Morning (8 AM)...Temperature 6 Degree Celsius..less than 4 hours of sleep.....A team building activity I was adamant not to participate in and the tasks which gives me goose bums even now lay ahead of us. The fact that it was totally optional made it even more hard to move an inch towards it..... "ROPE COURSE".


I wanted to be a passive spectator rather I just wanted to tuck myself under the warmth and softness of my comforter back home. But the sight of a few MBA's doing it..that too Gals made me stand close to it and watch. All the while thinking "Why take the risk, I am not in a good mood or good shape, exams coming soon and it is totally OPTIONAL". And Yun ( MBA Classmate) who had just completed the task pushed me to try one of them.

1. Climb 15 Feet and walk on a wood log Millions of Miles apart ( that's how it felt when I was walking on it). Reach the other end and climb another 15 feet and this time walk on a rope. It took an eternity for me to do this and every step I took made me feel it more of a dream than  a reality.

2. I just got down from the 1st task, hands cold, legs shaking and all I needed was a "Physical" push by Yun to go in for the next one. This apparently was the most challenging one as per the instructor. As I was climbing 30 feet high on the pole, one of the clamps to hold the feet fell apart. I shuddered and it was a convenient excuse for me to back out. But the instructor and the MBAs encouraged me to go on. It was challenging and fun.

3. The 3rd one needed no push, I wanted to be done with it. Climbing on single pole 30 feet high, standing on it and free jumping [ almost like bungee jumping, which is my dream]. This by far was the hardest and scariest of the lot. I didn't do well in this may be because I was tired, scared or the fact that I didn't know how to balance myself on a pole!!!

End of it, I was content , happy and proud of myself for what I did :-) . It was worth the "RISK". To add to my happiness - for one of the team building activities my classmate and a very very good person [ according to me] lifted me single handed!!!! Wow!!! Am I that Weight"less" :-D


All in all Rope Course ROCKED me!!!

This is not me in the picture.

Hurt my little finger, since I was holding the rope very tightly while doing the last task.


P.S :

1. There were enough safety measures taken, so anyone and everyone can complete most of these tasks.
2. The motivation and push from the MBAs made me do it, if not I don't think I would be even blogging about it.
3. The wound pained like hell for almost 2 days, though it looks tiny and minuscule in the picture!

Friends are Friends......

This may be a controversial topic :-) depending on who is reading it... nevertheless let me make an attempt to convey what I need to tell....

I don't have a lot of friends in my basket or rather I don't a have  a lot of "good" friends in my basket....may be because I am too choosy, too difficult to be friends with, too selfish or too straight forward or what my best friend from Engineering ASIMA calls"Complicated" . Whatever the reason may be, though I have a limited set of friends, I am very happy and content! However, here in Baton Rouge I have difficulty in finding people who can sync up with my thought process.... apparently my friends here don't understand what I say...:-)...I had my own doubts about this and had a thought that may be I really don't say things in ways that people can understand....however a week back I chatted with ASIMA after 1.5 years ( We email each other but have never had a live chat)...and we just picked up from where we left as if the time and distance made no difference...and she could get EXACTLY what I intended to say and commented "I have missed chatting with you like this"...there were no bounds to my happiness hearing someone understands what I mean to say and they acknowledged it!!! WOW!!! :-) Now when I see this seems to be true with all my friends I have had for many many years we pick up topics instantaneously and chat away to glory without having any communication gap.....

It makes me wonder.....do we loose tolerance to understand people as we grow older and  type cast people according to our convection.....or is it just my personal experience....

Confused,

Arpitha!

Thali! -> All things you want in one Plate.....:-)

Around the time when I was in middle school my family and my Aunt's family planned for a 1-day trip to a place close to Bangalore. And like all other trips this was a visit to a Temple. We were getting back from there late in the evening and my mom came up with the idea of visiting my grand mom's hometown on the way and slowly a mega plan was made on what places we should be visiting travelling back. The cab driver was upset ( too sad he cant get back home early on a weekend) and said why do you all want to add such small destinations when the main destination is covered! I said "Uncle, for lunch rice and sambar are the main course, that does not mean we would not want the appetizers, the desserts and ...." and the whole car exploded laughing.

I narrated this story since I was reminded about this episode recently when I was conversing with someone. It was about LIFE & CAREER! Yeah, we all know many of us might not get what we want in life and many of us might not get what we want in career though we deserve something more (trying to rationalize ;-) )!. Also just because our life or career goals (Main course ) are met should we stop pursuing the other ( appetizers, desserts)?? Well some people who keeping pursuing for better opportunities and advancements are called "Cunning" and some who are content and happy with what they have are called "Slackers"...but who are we to decide when our priorities are different from those we are trying to judge ?

Will we all be able to get all things we want in one life (Thali) ? Or do we keep cribbing, comparing, blaming and rationalizing for the BADS and think we rightly deserved the GOODS? For those who think like that,  remember Life is fair or unfair to all ;-), not unfair to only ME nor to U!


P.S - The reason for this blog been so "complicated"  if you think so is because I just took a 3 hours financial analysis quiz...Like the quiz I started off the blog with some idea and ending it with another idea.....and it so happens Finance is my fav subject ;-)

Transformed ME!

Never ever..ever as in EVER had I thought I would like to look like this...Never..ever...ever......

This picture was taken today...Football Game LSU Vs Florida here at Death Valley ( LSU College Football Stadium)

I think I am going to get a "little" mischievous while no ones here to watch over me!

Arpitha!

3rd Semester - Mistake or Not Yet!!!

Blogging about my 3rd semester finally.....
Its different from my past 2 semesters in multiple ways :
1. I have taken 5 subjects this semester instead of the normal 4.
2. Had scheduled for CIA exams.
3. Outing with friends has extended from just Friday-Sunday to Monday-Sunday.
Overall, this has resulted in me having a real real busy scheduled not finding time for "myself". I have managed to Fail in an exam!!! Yes yes....I have FAILED.......and not to mention my grades have been consistently dropping in ALL classes...But I am still convinced it was good decision to take more courses this semester..The subjects are very interesting in the first place, I feel this makes this program more challenging for me that what it was already which definitely excites me and yeah multitasking, overloading oneself is part of what my work might be in the future....
I still believe this is a good decision and not a mistake...hope I am right..would take some more time until I get to know....:-)

As off now pretty geared up for next weekend..going for a Camping & Canoeing Trip ( not to mention its my 1st experience) ..hope I update on it sooooooon....

Happy Weekend

Caio,
"BUSY" me.

Frustrated!!!

Come home after a long day ( 8 AM - 9 PM ) and there is no peace at your own Apartment!!! Missing my room and my bed back in India more than ever.


By Far the shortest blog I have ever written!!!

Frustrated,
Arpitha!

Summer 2011 Rewind!

Summer was FUN! Right from the 2-3 weeks break I had before I started my internship to the last 1.5 weeks break before I started my Fall 2011 semester today!

I got to spend some quality time with friends in Baton Rouge, a lot of pot lucks and late night chats. Moving to a new place and meeting new people and in fact having no interactions with people of my origin for 2 months! Planning for a 2 day trip to Houston (NASA space center) and making sure it was a successful one ;-). Visiting places in Dallas right from Malls to Temples all "ALONE". Witnessing IT systems ranging from mainframes to the latest IRIS! Seeing planes take off and land as a part of daily routine. Interacting with different nationals - Nepalese, Spanish, African, American, Chinese, Iranian and many more. In fact living with an Iranian for 2 months with absolute peace, harmony and mutual respect for the traditions and life styles. And yes, visiting Disney World and having spent priceless time with 2k students from different parts of the world. Clearing 2 parts of CIA exam. Watching on an average 1.5 movies each day.

Yes SUMMER was FUN!

Will I do it again ? May be...May be Not...You Never know ;-)

Universally True.....Wherever you go......

As a matter of fact, I had a bitter experience here in Dallas a couple of weeks ago. And at the end of it, I feel this is experienced by many in a new place and I was one of them this time.

I  had planned on going to the Mall to do some formals shopping for my work and thought of using the MetroRail to reach there. I have had good experience with the Rail and was not much concerned to go all by myself. But before I reached the Mall some unpleasant things happened :

1. I panicked on 2 occasions
2. Literally ran away from a person
3. Tripped and fell in the middle of a 4 road junction
4. Was almost dehydrated, fatigued and energy deprived by the time I reached the MALL.

When I think of it, I might not have had such an exaggerated experience had I been in a place I am well acquainted with or rather a place which I think I am in control!!!

It makes me wonder, there has always been the issues with Tourists ( International ) who have had unpleasant experience in India...well is it that it is because it is India or it is that it is a new place for the tourist.......I feel to some extent the latter has a role to  play with the experience..just like my own experience here at Dallas.


P.S : Lessons learnt
1. Have a  A-Z plan, information and strategy before you invade a new territory :-D
2. Don't be over confident and over smart in judging your own decisions on what you can handle ;-)

Fell free to add in your own lessons if any ;-)

Dallas - Kick Start!!!

On June 7th 2011, I ventured into the most challenging and difficult phase of my life. I was moving to a totally new city, state, place, home I had not knowledge about. It was an inevitable thing because I was posted at Dallas office to work as a summer inter for Ernst & Young. A part of me was really excited but the major chunk of it was damn Scared, TENSED and "worried".

I had made the planning and taken the necessary precautions before I moved in, thanks to all the help, support and information I received from my brother, friends at LSU and many more. But still it was a BIG deal because coming to LSU was a smoother transition thanks to all the people at LSU!!!

But who knew, the transition  to Dallas would also be a cake walk!!! Yeah I am sorry to disappoint all those who thought I would be cribbing about Dallas!!!

To begin with I have to mention about my apartment and roommate!! Both are awesome!!! She picked me from the airport, helped me with the grocery shopping and settling in the apartment, provided me with the basic information I needed. Most of all for just been a clean person and having the same requirements of personal space and socializing need like mine!!! :-D

Next comes the commute part. In Baton Rouge, its very difficult and time consuming to use public transport. In fact there are some important places where there in no public commute. On the contrary, I have had a pleasant and wonderful experience with the commute options here in Dallas and makes me feel more independent :-)

I think the 3rd item on the list should be my colleagues here at EY. To date they have been so helpful and understanding and accommodating I couldn't have asked for more!! I shall blog about the work experience may be sometime when I have enough to say.

The 4th one, would be the fact that I was able to visit the Mall and quiet a few restaurants here. I was initially under the assumption that my boundaries would be limited to office alone!!! This is also because I know a LSU Senior who moved to Dallas recently and she has been of great help just like my roommate [Afis]. And at EY all meetings are LUNCH meetings and all events for the EY interns are unbelievably FUN!!


Last but not the least, Texas is HOT in summer but its definitely not HUMID like Baton Rouge so though its summer I still feel I am enjoying the weather and the city a lot.

To make it clear I am not trying to compare Baton Rouge to Dallas, nor am I saying that Dallas is HEAVEN. All I want to convey is the fact I am nowhere close to the nightmare experience I had expected.

More Dallas on the way.......................

Seeing off a friend to India...felt nice :-)

Even before my 2nd semester exams ended..I had some extensive plans on how to utilize the 3 weeks before I leave to Dallas. Then again, nothing works as "planned" ..so all I have been doing is working for 4-5 hours a day, instead of 8 hours, catching up with friends in the evenings...sleeping at 2-3 AM and back to work at 11-12 in the morning. However, today I woke up at 6:30 AM despite the fact that I hit the bed at 3 AM after celebrating a couple of friends birthday. The reason, I got up this early was to see off a friend at the Airport.

I have known him for less than a year, and have had infrequent direct interactions with him. He is moving to a different university next semester and is visiting India before that. This was my last day to see him. Though we are not the best of the buddies, we both are movie buffs and he has suggested me so many movies over the 2 semesters that I felt I ought to see him off.

Once I was in the airport, there was this evil instinct of ditching him and getting into the plane instead of him :-)..but practically it isn't possible! However when I was still cribbing about it, I learnt that another friend of his hasn't visited India since 2002!!! yeah since 2002!!! OMG I cannot even imagine what must be going through that persons mind!!!However sad it may sound that's the reality. I immediately auto corrected my thoughts and felt happy that my friend is making a wise decision by visiting India and transferring to a different university. Wishing him all the best and success in his life..because he totally deserves it for all the hardship he has been through in the past 2 years.

P.S :  I feel no more bad for waking up!!! It served the purpose :-)

Long Time No Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.......................

I know , I Know its been really long since I have blogged..and for those who think I have lost the interest to blog  :-P. Needless to say, why such a huge time lag. Apart from been busy with "Academics" I am more busy hanging out with a bunch of friends called the "K-Gang" [ Kannada Gang].

Anyways long story short, since my previous blog I have had spent some wonderful time with the K-Gang, watching movies, munching on some fatty food in restaurants, been for a 3 day long trip to Pensacola and Panama city [ beaches]. Academically, have "successfully" completed my 2nd Semester of MBA :-)

I have a 3 month break before I start my 3rd Semester and in the mean time, I am going for internship for 2 months and planning to spend the between 1 month having some gala time with friends :-)

My be I will have something more interesting to blog once I am in a new city, new place, new people, new job and god knows what else is going to be "NEW"........

For those who think, why I am rushing through this blog : I am "BUSY" @ work ;-)

Ciao...until I have something more interesting to say...

P.S : Thanks to all my friends back in India and in US who have made me get through 1 year of AWAY from HOME and y'all...................

:-D

Trekking-1st time-Fabulous Experience-Want To Do it again!

If I haven't admitted it in my previous blog, let me do it here " I am a total lazy bum"! :-D Though I am a fun loving person, "Fun" is always restricted to talking, movie watching , eating and just staying at HOME!! Another reasons could be, I have never had the opportunity to try something else. Happy and content the way  it is and my laziness adds to it.

 So, coming back to the recent present, 9 of us ( Bangaloreans) planned for a 1 day trek to a place close by to Baton Rouge. Its called Clarks Creek - Tunica falls. We were so sure the trek is going to be such a difficult task that, we shopped so many eatables the day before!!!

  It included anything and everything you can possible take for a "picnic" rather than for a "trek". I ended up sleeping at 2:30 AM after cutting a huge watermelon and fitting it into various boxes that we planned to carry. Woke up at 6-7 AM not sure, got fresh had a banana and left to the friends place.

Not to our surprise, the other set of guys arrived LATE, and we all departed by 8:30 AM odd. The drive (1.5 hours) to the place was just superb!!!! With a few missing routes, we reached the place by 10 AM [ I am not sure with the timings I have mentioned]. Mid way through our trip we did stop by to take a few SNAPS :-).

So we started trekking and within a few Milli-seconds we stopped by for having breakfast [ rich breakfast]. Then we decided to take the primitive trail for trekking and had to cross many obstacles on our way.

 We stopped by 1-2 falls had some fun with the water and were deciding the next path to take all the while. By noon, we were at the dead end of a fall and  halted there. We played with American Football BALL and Dumbsharads for a little while. Then had a "Richer" Lunch and left by 3:30 PM. Trekking back was a little easy, since we opted to take the wooden staircase rather than the primitive trail, but after a certain point it was just man-made paths which were very steep.

 It was a humongous task for all of us to make it through such strips of path . All tired and sweaty we came to the parking lot by 5 PM and reached Baton Rouge by 6:30 PM odd!!!

1. To be honest it was a" Trek-Picnic" outing

2. It took about 4 day for my body to stop aching

3. I just had so much FUN

4. We did see a Lobster and copper head snake during our trekking

 Finally, this experience has motivated all of us to go for some more treks.  Hope I will be a part of each one of them, because it’s worth it and was "FUN"!!! :-D

Links to Pic:

https://picasaweb.google.com/simplypri/Temp?authkey=Gv1sRgCLKZiJ2r3N6sfQ&feat=email#

https://picasaweb.google.com/arpitha23/ClarkCreekTuniaFallsMar192011#

https://picasaweb.google.com/bpradippai/ClarksCreek?authkey=Gv1sRgCMqLm_ujwczx3gE#

https://picasaweb.google.com/sunadsn/TunicaFalls?authkey=Gv1sRgCKq07qOJ8NOcaw#

Handling Pressure!!!

I always thought in fact "assumed" that I am good with Handling Pressure. For instance during exam weeks, I never see myself freaking out, pulling night outs or for that matter getting hyper tensed about anything at all. However I realized I am not as good at I thought I was :-) SURPRISE SURPRISE!!

There were two instances previous week, which made me re-access my pressure handling traits.

1. I had joined dance group to perform here at LSU. Soon I realized, I had too many issues to commit myself for the dance. I quit within a weeks time. :-)

2. I usually make sure most of the group assignments are done in such a way that I am content with my performance 100%. Again last week I had difficulty dealing with a team and came to a point where I just wanted to be done with it at any cost.

So, it basically boils down to a point where, how much interest and commitment I show for a particular task, that makes it less pressurizing for me, and not that I am good at handling pressure all the time ;-)..and I guess that's the way it should be!!! Glad to realize that at the least NOW :-P

P.S : Now I understand, whenever my mom forced me to cook, why the food used to be less than "good" most of the time ;-) hehehehe. Sorry MOM, I take full responsibility for it now.

Nothing comes for FREE!

This is one such blog in my account I have written out of extreme saddest and pain.

Last week has been difficult for certain reasons and I am still taking time to recover from it. Every time I think about it, I feel I would have felt better had I been there and not "Here". May be it is a physiological thing! However, the truth is when I decided to come this far, I knew the hard facts and was ready to compromise on certain things for what I wanted to do. Now, whenever I realize the things I am missing whether it be attending a friend's wedding, staying with family or been there to support people I care for, I feel was it really worth it? And the answer I get each time is nothing comes for FREE!!!

It is one such hard truth in life and we all do experience it. I had one of my friend blog recently that some people just get lucky with everything and it’s really "UNFAIR". On retrospection, you might see the “lucky” person didn’t turn out to be lucky just like that! That's the way it is and you simply have to learn to accept it. I am trying to learn......

P.S : I expect people to respect my privacy and not ask me the reason for my sadness. However, you are welcome to comment on the blog.

It's all about "TIME"!

TIME HEALS EVERYTHING....this is something most of us might have heard and NO I am not getting "Philosophical"...After about 6 months stay in Baton Rouge...there are few things that's obviously changed in me and my life....and I am going to talk about that...

The first time I tasted "Lays" chips and sipped "Sprite" here, I knew it was not the same as how it tastes back in India. Now I am so used to the current taste of these items, that I can no more recollect how it would taste back in India.

I was under the "superstitious" belief that I would fall sick if I don't eat "Chaats" especially "Pani puri" on a weekly basis and I used to long for it. My mouth waters even now if I think of them!!! But now I crave for Mexican Food, cheesy stuffs in other words basically more of the American food !! Though there can be no comparison between the two. Each have their own place in my taste buds ;-)

Apart from food my weekday and weekend routines have also changed and I am so accustomed to them that I hardly recollect what I used to do back in India [ Off course I remember the important ones but the trivial ones have escaped my mind!!]. Friend's with whom I chat or talk on regular basis find a gradual change in me which I myself don't recognize.

All I can say it "It's all about TIME" and I am not the one to be blamed!! :-D

P.S : On a personal note , I have heard and seen people getting "Americanized" after a few days stay here. And off course I have seen people not liking that change. But now I wonder do we have the right to even blame them ?

Kannada Balaga!

It's been really long since I have blogged and obviously it means my new Semester has started!!

I am not talking about my 2nd semester in this blog..it's all about Kannada Balaga. I happened to meet 4 guys from Bangalore in the 1st semester. They had invited us to their home for dinner. It was fun to hang around with them and soon after that, I got busy with my routine. After that my encounter with them has been just short meetings or e-chats. However, in the 2nd semester I met them with 2 more additions , had a pot luck dinner and a dinner outing and to be honest I had a blast!!! Let me introduce these guys n gals:

1. Naveen : Confused Party
2. Shashank : A telugu guy, who doesn't know telgu, a Bangalorean who doesn't know kannada.

3. Pradeep : The only sane person in that apartment who pulls everyone's leg and spares none.
4. Pratap : New addition to the apartment. Came in this semester. Yet to "know" him.
5. Sunada : Living Kannada encyclopedia. His level of jokes are ultimate! And the best past is he never repeats his jokes, difficult to find people of that nature!!
6. Madahvi : Newly wedded wife of Sunada. A silent person but a needed addition to the Kannada Balaga :-)
Except for Naveen, the rest are doing their PhD's here ( Impressive).

The things I enjoy the most is :
1. Getting an opportunity to dress up in Indian Attire!!! I miss it occasionally.
2. Talking about the famous eat outs in Bangalore
3. Laughing at some internal Kannada or Bangalore related jokes
4. Feeling one amongst them knowing I am not been judged upon !!!

I even sacrificed my Sunday Time to meet up with them and it was totally WORTH IT ( such a stress buster)!!!! Hoping to have some quality time and
"memorable" memories with these people :-)

JAI KARNATAKA! ;-)


P.S : This blog is purely my opinion ( just like my other blogs) , and is not intented to hurt anyone's sentiments otherwise.

Keeping myself preoccupied :-P

I had close to 40 days of hols after my 1st term exams and I had planned a lot on what I am supposed to be doing which would be most productive and effective! :-P thinking like an "MBA" person...and as usual something else happened...

The Actual Plan :

1. Work for 40 hrs a week as a software developer

2. Borrow some marketing text book from my prof and off course read it "GK"!

3. Get my driver's license for 4 wheeler

4. Prepare for the Internal Auditing Course [ the screwing one of all! ]

Why it didn't work :

1. Do to some complications in paper work, the employer couldn't hire me during the break :-/

2. After exams were over, I didn't even look at the Marketing Department :-P

3. The person who was supposed to teach me driving was busy, so zero progress on that :-(

4. We didn't get the course material for studying Internal Auditing! :-D

What "Actually" Happened :

1. Sleep for 10-12 hrs a day, with no alarms waking me up

2. Watched a few TV series like Desperate housewives, Lost and How I met your mother

3. Watched various flavours of movies right from action. comedy, feel good, horror, drama and thrillers ( suspense n romantic ) in English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Japanese/ Chinese and French

4. Rediscovered my passion for Cooking! And yeah prepared some yummy innovative food!

5. Visited Baton Rouge Down Town [Commercial Area] and LSU campus and took over 1k snaps [ from 4 cameras]!

6. Had been to a few potlucks and invited a few people to home for Break Fast and Lunch

7. Finished reading "Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown

8. In the process of teaching a friend of mine .Net [C#]

9. Got a new hair-cut for $20!!!

10. The usual routine of shopping, house keeping etc

11. Chatting with my friends and keeping in touch with them

Well I have managed to keep myself as much "preoccupied" as possible which was neither productive not effective as per the initial plan :-P..but what the heck..this could possibly me my last set of hols as a student where I can decide what to do..So I did what I wanted to do :-D

P.S : With the next sem starting shortly I am DAMN scared..can I go back to 4-6 hrs of sleeping, no entertainment, busy-schedule, alarm clocks and what not!!!????

In your shoes....

Strange thing happened...I was watching a Telugu movie recently and something hit me like a jolt!

Obviously the "HERO" was ripping apart all the villains and their "chamchas"...So the overall conclusion is the "HERO" is a brave guy..invincible.. ultimately he would win and that's why he is the "HERO"...but.........what about the villain...after witnessing death of their own people and being sure they would also end up in the same situation still they attempt to attack the "HERO"...well I know its a reel that's running but still...just imagine even their bravery!!! :-D..funny isn't it ? So I started applying the same logic to a few scenarios..."Putting my self in the opposite persons shoes"...and you would realize whether you are the winner, accomplished person the opposite person wants to be...yet there is something special about that person if you wish to see it!!

For instance, at the least I have studied a few subjects to date [ though I am not interested in them] just to make sure I don't flunk in them..I don't think I have the courage to face people effected because of it..and I am sure that would be the same case with most of us...but imagine a person who has flunked and has the courage to face it [ whether they wish to or not...]. Wow its just amazing...! from looking at someone who is not good at a subject, I now see them as someone from whom I can draw some courage...

If I start thinking of many such instances I realize there is something else in that person which make them unique! So I have come to a conclusion that there can never be a "LOOSER"....well if someone is out right arrogant, lazy, good for nothing that's all together a different story [out of the scope of this POST!]...

I know the topic is debatable..and I am still not sure on my "thinking"...but just felt like blogging about it!

1G -> 2G

Well to make myself clear this post is not about 1G, 2G, 3G or 4G mobile phones :-P...sorry for disappointing some gadget freaks! :-D

Until recently I was still the 1G person, whose main goals were to have fun, hang out with friends, party in awesome restaurants, have the latest and trendy wardrobe, be up to date with whats happening in the Film Industry, gossip about everyone, make prank calls, comment on "cute" guys and so on and so forth....[hope you get the idea]....

Even now the above said stuffs holds good, but this is not my entire life. With many of my friends getting married, becoming parents, few getting "committed", few pursuing their dreams [ apart from engineering :-)] and me trying to stay INDEPENDENT..I see a gradual and graceful change in all of us...Now the conversation with my dear friends starts with how are you? how is family? How is your respect partners (kids) ? how is work ? what have you planned for future ?....Instead of starting with YOU KNOW WHAT...YOU WILL GET A SHOCK HEARING THIS...GUESS WHAT!!!....all of these ending with gossips ;-)....

When I think about a few friends of mine, the 1st thing that comes to mind is their kids :-)..not their some lovely dress, footwear or accessories I might have liked...When I think of past outings with them..I think we all should go there once again with our respective families...and when I plan my next trip to India..I am sure I would buy gifts for the kids and not for the parents...(advance sorry) and yes off course I have started thinking more responsibly and selflessly than I used to ( my mom would never ever agree to this)...well some call it Maturity, some call it growing OLD... I see it as a graceful transition from being

1G -> 2G.

When I move from 1G-> 2G, my parents move from 2G->3G. So the 1G gap between us will always stay, hence I would always been a kid for them and I like it that way.

When I move from 1G->2G, my friends also are in the same transition [ Some of you might not agree]...but its a fact and whether they behave like one or not..it doesn't matter..we are still the same G people... ;-)

So here is me self proclaiming I am in the transition phase of being a 2G..and I am LOVING IT!!! for those who want to say I am OLD...please look at yourself...one day you also would be in my shoes :-P

G -> Generation

So which G are you ? :-P